Classical music: Is a local Dvorak revival in the making? This Friday night, Christopher Taylor joins the Willy Street Chamber Players to perform the famed Piano Quintet

IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.

By Jacob Stockinger

Is a major local revival of music by Antonin Dvorak (below) in the making?

Many signs point to: Yes!

At the end of the past season, maestro John DeMain of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, which has also performed the Symphony No. 9 “From the New World,” announced that he was on board as a fan when he told the audiences about the upcoming season, which features the MSO performing Dvorak’s dramatic Symphony No. 7 in D Minor and the large-scale Requiem.

In recent seasons, we have also seen the Madison Opera stage the opera “Rusalka”; the Middleton Community Orchestra perform the Symphony No. 6; the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte String Quartet and the Ancora String Quartet perform the miniatures “Cypresses”; the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra play some “Slavonic Dances”; and more.

What’s not to like about Dvorak? He was one of music’s greatest melodists, something that Johannes Brahms envied and a reason why Brahms helped promote his music. And his use of folk music – Czech, Native American and African-American – is captivating as well as multicultural.

Here is a link to more about Dvorak in his Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvořák

As audience responses prove, there is so much Dvorak to be fond of.

But one of the greatest works will be performed this Friday night, July 26, at 6 p.m. in the Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1021 Spaight Street.

That is when the Willy Street Chamber Players, in the final concert of their fifth summer series, will perform the famed Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81 (1887). (You can hear the engaging opening movement, played by pianist Evgeny Kissin and the Emerson String Quartet, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The Willys will team up with the acclaimed UW-Madison virtuoso pianist and Van Cliburn Competition bronze medalist Christopher Taylor, who is a gifted chamber musician as well as a superb soloist.

Filling out the program are Three Nocturnes (1924) by Ernest Bloch and “Voodoo Dolls” (2008) by Jessie Montgomery.

Admission is $15 with a reception afterwards.

Dvorak, who has never fallen out of favor but who seems to have sparked a new enthusiasm, composed a lot.

In addition to the nine symphonies, the string serenade and the piano quintet, there is a lot of chamber music, including string quartets, piano trios, piano quartets; concertos for the violin, cello and piano; and many miniatures, including the lovely “Songs My Mother Taught Me.” There is also some solo piano music that has largely been neglected.

Do you love Dvorak’s music?

What about it do you especially like?

Do you have a favorite Dvorak work?

Let us know what it is, with a YouTube link if possible, in the Comment section.

The Ear wants to hear.

---

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #African-AmericanMusic, #AmericanComposer, #AncoraStringQuartet, #AntoninDvorak, #AudienceFavorite, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloConcerto, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusician, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristopherTaylor, #Czechcomposer, #EmersonStringQuartet, #ErnestBloch, #EvgenyKissin, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FolkMusic, #FromtheNewWorld, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #JessieMontgomery, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnDeMain, #Large-scale, #MadisonOpera, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MusicDirector, #NativeAmerican, #NewWorldSymphony, #OperaMusic, #PianoConcerto, #PianoQuartet, #PianoQuintet, #PianoTrio, #ProArteQuartet, #SlavonicDances, #SongsMyMotherTaughtMe, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheWillys, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VanCliburn, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #ViolinConcerto, #ViolinMusic, #VocalMusic, #VoodooDolls, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, admission, African American, American, Ancora String Quartet, Antonín Dvořák, Arts, attract, audience, blog, bronze, bronze medalist, capivating, Cello, Cello Concerto, Chamber music, chamber musician, choral music, Christian, Christopher Taylor, church, Classical music, comment, Compact Disc, compose, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, cypresses, Czech, dance, dolls, Emerson String Quartet, enthusiasm, envy, Ernest Bloch, Evgeny Kissin, Facebook, fan, favor, favorite, Folk music, gifted, hear, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Jacob Stockinger, Jessie Montgomery, Johannes Brahms, John DeMain, like, link, local, lovely, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maestro, Mead Witter School of Music, medalist, melodist, melody, Middleton Community Orchestra, movement, multicultural, Music, Music director, Native American, neglected, new, New World Symphony, nocturne, opening, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, performer, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano Quartet, Piano Quintet, Piano Trio, post, posting, Pro Arte Quartet, promote, reader, reception, Requiem, response, revival, Rusalka, Season, Serenade, share, signs, Slavonic, Slavonic Dances, solo, solo piano, soloist, song, Songs My Mother Taught Me, spread, stage, string music, String quartet, subscriber, superb, symphonies, symphony, tag, The Ear, The Willys, tuneful, United States, University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, use, UW-Madison, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Violin, Violin concerto, violin music, virtuoso, vocal music, Voodoo, Voodoo Dolls, Wikipedia, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, word, work, world, YouTube, YouTube video